Graduate Interview Questions and How to Answer Them: 17 Common UK Questions With Example Answers

Graduate interviews are more predictable than they feel. Whether it is a 30-minute video call with a small company or the final round of a large graduate scheme, most questions fall into five families: motivation, competency, strengths, situational and technical.

Below are the 17 questions you are most likely to hear, what each one tests, and a short example answer from someone whose experience is mostly university projects, part-time jobs and societies. That is normal: the National Careers Service says you can use volunteering and other non-work examples if your work history is limited. For the wider job hunt, start with our complete guide to graduate jobs in the UK.

What do UK graduate interviewers actually assess?

They test three things: whether you can do the job, whether you want this particular job, and whether you will thrive in their team. Every question below is a route into one of those three.

Employers in the Institute of Student Employers' Student Recruitment Survey 2025 received an average of 140 applications per graduate vacancy, so by interview stage the quality of your examples is what separates you.

How do you use the STAR method in an interview?

STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. It turns a story into evidence an interviewer can score, so keep the set-up short and spend most of your answer on what you personally did.

The National Careers Service recommends STAR for interviews, applications and cover letters. Prospects adds a fifth step, Reflection, and suggests preparing five to eight examples, since a 45 to 60 minute competency interview typically includes three to six questions.

Motivation questions: "Why this company?" and "Why this role?"

Motivation questions check whether you have researched the employer and whether your interest is specific. Generic praise ("you're a market leader with great training") is an easy way for good candidates to lose marks.

1. "Tell me about yourself."

What they want: a short summary of how you got here and why this role is the logical next step. Prospects suggests leading with your qualification and achievements, then experience and skills. Aim for about a minute.

Example answer: "I've just finished a Business Management degree, with a dissertation on marketing analytics. I worked 15 hours a week in a café, where I was asked to train new starters, and I ran social media for the hiking society, growing our Instagram from 300 to 900 followers. That mix of data and people is why this analyst role stood out."

2. "Why do you want to work for us?"

What they want: proof you have done more than skim the homepage, and a link between what they do and what you want.

Example answer: "Three reasons. You work mainly with independent retailers, and my job in a family-run shop showed me how much good marketing matters to them. Your graduates rotate through three teams in year one, and I want that breadth. And a graduate I met at a careers fair said juniors here present their own work to clients early, which is the responsibility I'm after."

3. "Why this role?"

What they want: that you understand what the job involves day to day.

Example answer: "Much of the role is analysing campaign results and writing them up for account managers. My dissertation was essentially that: I cleaned a large survey dataset, analysed it in Excel and turned it into recommendations for a non-specialist reader. I'd like to do that every day with real clients."

4. "Where do you see yourself in five years?"

What they want: realistic ambition that fits their career path. Prospects suggests linking your goals to the employer, the industry and professional qualifications.

Example answer: "I'd like to have a professional marketing qualification and be running campaigns on my own. Several of your account managers started as graduates here, so that path looks realistic, and it's the progression I want."

Competency questions and STAR example answers

Competency questions start with "Tell me about a time..." or "Give an example of...". Each targets a skill from the job description and is scored against set criteria, Prospects explains, so be specific about what you did.

5. "Tell me about a time you worked in a team."

What they want: collaboration, your own contribution and how you handle different views.

Example answer: "In a final-year group project, two of our five members disagreed about whether to survey students or interview local businesses. I owned the method, so I suggested trialling both, ran five interviews myself and shared a one-page comparison so we could decide on evidence. We chose interviews, finished a week early and got our best mark of the year."

6. "Describe a time you worked under pressure."

What they want: how you organise yourself, stay calm and still deliver.

Example answer: "During exams, my café manager was off sick on a busy Saturday and I was the most experienced person on shift. I split tasks between the three of us, took orders myself to keep the queue moving and called a colleague who covered the lunch rush. We got through the rush with no complaints."

7. "Give an example of when you showed initiative."

What they want: that you spot problems and act without being told.

Example answer: "As film society treasurer, I noticed we lost money on unsold snacks every screening. I tracked sales for four weeks, cut the range to the three best sellers and added a pre-order form. Within a term we broke even and used the savings to fund a free screening for new students."

8. "Tell me about a mistake you made."

What they want: honesty, ownership and what you changed afterwards.

Example answer: "On my summer internship I emailed a supplier the wrong month's figures. I spotted it within an hour, told my manager and sent a correction with an apology. Now I use a short checklist before anything leaves the company, and it hasn't happened again."

9. "How do you prioritise your work?"

What they want: organisation and deadline management.

Example answer: "Each Monday I list everything due, then do first whatever has a fixed deadline or holds others up. In my final year I had a dissertation draft, two assignments and 16 hours of shifts in one fortnight. I blocked out my week, swapped shifts two weeks ahead and handed everything in on time."

Strengths-based questions: what are they and how do you answer?

Strengths-based questions ask what you enjoy and what comes naturally, rather than what you have done. Many UK graduate employers use them, often alongside competency questions, and the Civil Service's Success Profiles explore strengths mainly at interview.

They come quickly: Prospects notes you could face as many as 30 questions in an hour-long strengths interview. Skip full STAR answers. Be honest, brief and energetic, and add a one-line example.

10. "What energises you?"

What they want: whether what you enjoy matches what the job involves.

Example answer: "Fixing messy problems. At work I offered to sort out the stock spreadsheet because nobody trusted the numbers, and I genuinely enjoyed it. That's why the data side of this role appeals to me."

11. "What are your strengths?"

What they want: three or four strengths from the person specification, each backed by evidence, as Prospects recommends.

Example answer: "Explaining things clearly, staying organised and building rapport. As a student ambassador I led campus tours for groups of 30 visitors and was later asked to train new ambassadors, which used all three."

12. "What is your biggest weakness?"

What they want: self-awareness and a plan. Avoid clichés like "I'm a perfectionist", which Prospects specifically warns against.

Example answer: "I used to say yes to everything. In second year I took on a society role, extra shifts and a project lead in one term, and my marks dipped. Now I check my calendar before committing and say 'I can do that next week' instead of an automatic yes."

Situational questions: "What would you do if...?"

Situational questions give you a hypothetical workplace problem to see how you think. There is rarely one right answer: interviewers want sensible priorities, honesty and knowing when to ask for help.

13. "Two managers give you urgent tasks with the same deadline. What do you do?"

What they want: that you clarify priorities rather than struggle in silence.

Example answer: "I'd check what each task involves and whether either deadline can move, then explain the clash to both managers, or my line manager, and ask which comes first. Flagging it early beats quietly missing one."

14. "You spot a mistake in a senior colleague's work just before it goes to a client. What do you do?"

What they want: integrity, tact and speed.

Example answer: "I'd tell them privately and straight away, show what I'd found and offer to help fix it. If I couldn't reach them in time, I'd tell my own manager. An awkward conversation is better than a client receiving something wrong."

Technical questions for graduate roles

Technical questions check you have the core knowledge the role needs. For most graduate jobs they test fundamentals, and how you reason matters as much as the final answer.

15. "Walk me through a project from your degree."

What they want: whether you can explain technical work clearly, and what your part was.

Example answer: "My dissertation asked why independent cafés lose more winter trade than chains. I collected footfall counts from three cafés and compared them with weather data. In plain terms, rain hit the independents harder, so I recommended a bad-weather offer, and one café trialled a rainy-day loyalty stamp."

16. Field-specific basics

What they want: the fundamentals named in the advert, and structured thinking when you are unsure. Typical examples:

• Finance: "What are the three financial statements and how do they link?"
• Software: "How would you find the bug in this function?"
• Marketing: "Which metrics would you use to judge this campaign?"
• Engineering: "How would you test this design before production?"

How to answer: revise the skills in the advert and think aloud. If you do not know, say so and reason towards an answer.

What questions should you ask at the end of a graduate interview?

Ask two or three questions about the work, the team and how you will learn. They show genuine interest and help you decide whether the job suits you.

17. "Do you have any questions for us?"

Always say yes. Prospects warns that having none gives a bad impression. Good options:

• "What would my first month look like in this team?"
• "What do graduates who do really well here do differently?"
• "Who would I learn from day to day, and how is training organised?"
• "What is the team's biggest challenge this year?"
• "Is there anything in my application you'd like me to expand on?"

Skip anything answered on their website, and leave salary until an offer unless they raise it.

How do you prepare for a one-way video interview?

A one-way, or pre-recorded, video interview shows you a question on screen and records your answer, with nobody on the call. Treat it as a real conversation, because someone will watch it later.

Timings vary by employer. The University of Manchester's careers service says you will usually get around 30 seconds to a minute to prepare and a few minutes to answer each question, and in most cases only one attempt. Prospects' video interview tips boil down to:

• Do the practice question first to see the timer and whether re-recording is allowed.
• Put the camera at eye level and look into the lens.
• Choose a quiet, tidy room with light in front of you, not a window behind.
• Dress as you would for a face-to-face interview.
• Keep a few bullet points near the camera, never a script.
• Use the preparation time to pick your STAR story, not to write it out.

Graduate interview prep checklist

A week before

• Highlight every skill and strength in the job description and match a STAR story to each.
• Research the employer: what it sells, its customers, recent news and its values.
• Re-read your CV and cover letter, because anything on them is fair game. Our graduate CV template and graduate cover letter guide help you get both right.
• Prepare three or four questions to ask.
• Practise out loud. Prospects notes students and recent graduates can book mock interviews with their university careers service.

The day before

• Confirm the format, time, location or link, and who you are meeting.
• For video, test your camera, microphone, connection and software.
• Plan your outfit and journey, aiming to arrive ten minutes early.

Afterwards

• Note the questions you were asked. They help with the next round, which may be an assessment centre.

Before your next application, run your CV through the free AI CV review. Then browse hundreds of live graduate roles, internships and placements on GradWorx Search, or let GradWorx Discover match you to roles and explain why each one fits.